The Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo recently got updated to Android 4.0 and while that is great news, it broke root access for many users. This guide will show you how to fix that and regain root – read on to know how.

I. Before You Begin

1. This procedure works on the Xperia Neo V with a locked bootloader running Android 4.0.4. If you have an unlocked bootloader, look to our post on the same to know how to root it.

2. Remember to back up your data before you proceed any further!

3. Make sure you have set up ADB before you proceed with this guide. If you haven’t, read up on our post on how to do this.

III. Flashing the .431 Firmware

1. Double-click on flashtool .exe you downloaded above and follow the on-screen instructions to install it.

2. Copy both .ftf files you downloaded above to C:\Flashtool\firmwares on your harddrive.

3. Open the Flashtool application after installation and click on the Flash icon (the one with the thunder symbol).

4. You should be presented with two options: Flashmode and Fastboot Mode. Select Flashmode.

5. Choose the kernel with the version number .431 in itand click on OK. Follow the on-screen instructions on how to boot your device into fasboot mode and connect your device. Also, make sure”No Final Verification” is marked

6. Reboot device.

This will have flashed your kernel back to .431 which is rootable.

IV. Flashing the MT11i_4.1.A.0.562 Kernel

1. Follow the same steps as described in Section III above until Step 5.

2. On Step 5, select MT11i_4.1.A.0.562 instead of MT11i_4.1.B.0.431.

3. Continue with the rest of the steps as in Section III.

You should now have an Xperia Neo running the .431 firmware but running a .562 kernel.

V. Rooting the Xperia Neo V

1. Enable USB Debugging on your device. You can do this by heading to Settings > Applications > USB Debugging and checking the tickbox next to it.

2. Enable installation of non-Market applications. To do this, go to Settings > Applications and check the Unknown Sources tickbox.

3. Connect your device to your Windows PC.

4. Extract the DooMLoRD_v1_Xperia-2011-ICS-ROOT-emu-busybox-su.zip that you downloaded above to a folder on your desktop.

5. From the extracted folder, double-click on runme.bat to run the DooMLoRD tool.

6. Follow the on-screen instructions and wait for the process to be complete (your device will reboot several times during the procedure).

All credit goes to Madfysh on XDA for providing us the stock kernels and to DooMLoRD for working on the root tool! Donate or thank them if you liked their work!!

VI. Flash a Custom Recovery (Optional)

This is part of our Android How To’s. We have how to’s on rooting, loading ROMs, and tons of other tips and tricks for your specific device or for Android devices in general! For all of our Android How To’s, head here.

Hey! I can’t thank you enough for this How-To. Finally found a clear rooting guide for the Neo V. I’m gonna root my phone in just a bit, but I just wanna know if during the process of rooting, the bootloader gets unlocked too? Because from whatever I’ve read, the bootloader needs to be unlocked if I want to flash custom recoveries and ROMs.

Mahesh Makvana

The root procedure doesn’t unlock the bootloader and you don’t require unlocked bootloader to root the device.

But if you’re planning to get a custom recovery, you’ll require the bootloader to be unlocked.

Hope it helps!

david

i have a sony ericsson xperia neo v running a 2.3 android and with unlocked bootloader , and ia want to know how to root it

Dax Krishna

David, you could try updating to Android 4.0.4 and then trying the procedure above.

yeash.mobile5490

tried all the above steps successfully
but it is not getting rooted even after seeing super user installed ;-(

Syairah Rahim

Done everything and succeeded. But couldnt get the super user request. The app is there but I can’t even update it. Always with the “Instalation failed” memo. Rebooted. Still nothing. Help please. I feel like I’m almost there.

Need the internet or MMS settings for your device? Here's our ever-growing repository of APN settings for your phone so it can access the internet and send/receive multimedia messages.

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